President Xi on the road promotes China as global power second only to U.S.

President Xi on the road promotes China as global power second only to U.S.

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Newly confirmed Chinese President Xi Jinping has demonstrated the flair if not also the substance of a strongman during his maiden overseas trip as head of state. Unlike his predecessor, ex-president Hu Jintao – who often appeared stiff and wooden while on foreign trips – Xi seemed to […]

UN survey cites rise of the Global South

UN survey cites rise of the Global South

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — “The rise of the South is unprecedented in its speed and scale…when dozens of countries and billions of people move up the development ladder as they are doing today, it has a direct impact on wealth creation and broader human progress,” cites the glowing introduction to the UN Development […]

A reporter’s retrospective 10 years after ‘shock-and-awe’ in Iraq

A reporter’s retrospective 10 years after ‘shock-and-awe’ in Iraq

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com The tenth anniversary this week of the opening salvos in the American “shock-and-awe” campaign against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq reminds us of the “axis-of-evil” speech delivered by George W. Bush in his state-of-the-union address on Jan. 20, 2002, a year after he was inaugurated. No one would dispute Bush’s […]

Ten years after start of Iraq War: Geopolitical shifts have favored Iran, China

Ten years after start of Iraq War: Geopolitical shifts have favored Iran, China

Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing The ten years since the outset of the Second Gulf War have provided time to assess the geopolitical consequences it has brought, though a fuller judgment will come only after many more years. Putting aside the justifications and criticisms from the war period, we might look at how […]

Obama’s Alice-in-Wonderland foreign policy

Obama’s Alice-in-Wonderland foreign policy

Sol W. Sanders   That clanking and screeching you hear out of Washington, almost drowning out the caterwauling of the budget debate, is the Obama administration making a 180-degree turn on Pacific Ocean anti-missile defense. As usual with the cloying mainstream media, the significance of this complete reversal of strategy has been obfuscated at the […]

China woes: Charismatic or not, how long can Xi Jinping keep smiling?

China woes: Charismatic or not, how long can Xi Jinping keep smiling?

Sol W. Sanders   In a troubled world, the obstacles to continued growth and stability in Communist China are staggering compared to the crises of the Euro and Sequestration. Most foreign observers are either willfully blind to the growing evidence or, facing a possible period of worldwide economic decline, they still hope growth in China […]

Video reveals ‘Gangnam Style’ has infiltrated North Korea

Video reveals ‘Gangnam Style’ has infiltrated North Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com East-Asia-Intel.com South Korea’s latest pop culture, including the international hit song “Gangnam Style,” has found its way into the tightly-controlled North Korean world, a video footage shows. In the clips, two North Koreans are sitting in a dark room with a blanket over their head to hide themselves, moving their shoulders up […]

Slam dunk for North Korea: Way to go HBO, and whose idea was this anyway?

Slam dunk for North Korea: Way to go HBO, and whose idea was this anyway?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com This just in — Dennis Rodman wasn’t quite Kim Jong-Un’s first choice as his guest for fun and games in Pyongyang. There was actually a move afoot to invite Michael Jordan, but there was a catch. The idea was that he would have gone with the blessing of […]

General Thurman? North Korea on the line sir

General Thurman? North Korea on the line sir

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com Pyongyang’s claim to have called Gen. James Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, to warn him about “a grave situation” on the Korean Peninsula inspires speculation about what the general and his caller from the North might have talked about. North Korea did not say who made the […]

New president hails S. Koreans’ can-do, tech-based, spirit: ‘In the 21st century, culture is power’

New president hails S. Koreans’ can-do, tech-based, spirit: ‘In the 21st century, culture is power’

Special to WorldTribune.com Following is a transcript of the inaugural address of South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-Hye: My fellow Koreans and seven million fellow compatriots overseas, As I take office as the 18th-term President of the Republic of Korea, I stand before you today determined to open a new era of hope. I […]